New Preprint: “Serendipity in the Stacks: Libraries, Information Architecture, and the Problems of Accidental Discovery”
Now on the web.
The following article/essay scheduled for publication in the September 2015 issue of College & Research Libraries. It was approved for publication on December 15, 2014.
Title
Author
Patrick L. Carr
East Carolina University
Source
C&RL Website
Abstract
Serendipity in the library stacks is generally regarded as a positive occurrence. While acknowledging its benefits, this essay draws on research in library science, information systems, and other fields to argue that, in two important respects, this form of discovery can be usefully framed as a problem. To make this argument, the essay examines serendipity both as the outcome of a process situated with in the information architecture of the stacks and as a user perception about that outcome.
Direct to Full Text (28 pages; PDF)
Filed under: Academic Libraries, Libraries, News
About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.